The present invention relates generally to athletic boots, and, more specifically to a ski boot construction which does not require the standard plurality of buckles arranged on opposed closure flaps for securing the boot tightly about the wearer's foot.
In a known ski boot, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,017, the upper part of the vamp is articulated on a hinge placed vertically on one of the sides of the boot, buckles being provided on the other side to latch the upper part of the vamp in closed position in front of the ankle. Furthermore, one or more other buckles are provided on the instep to keep the foot itself tight in the boot. Such a boot has the disadvantage of taking a relatively long time to put on, since several buckles have to be latched. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain good water tightness, for the seam between the vamp and the top on which the vamp is articulated is approximately vertical; and snow and water can seep inside the boot notwithstanding the overlap of the shell elements.
In another known device as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,749, there is only one buckle to work. However, there is a rather complicated cable system which is subject to damage and there are also several seams which prevent a water leakage problem as in the above noted device.
In yet another boot described in French Pat. No. 2,276,851, the whole back part of the top is articulated to the sole on an axis transverse to the latter. The boot is put on from the back. There is, therefore, an approximately vertical seam which leads to the aforementioned water seepage problem. In addition, two buckles have to be latched to put the boot on.